Where Our Blue Meets - Gojo Satoru x OC

Chapter 26

The next morning, Eliana woke up with an atrocious headache. For a minute, she just laid there, in bed, as if she had woken up from a fever dream. Or a nightmare. Maybe if she stayed in here, under her blankets, she wouldn't have to face the harsh reality. 

But the events of the day before were still very vivid in her mind, and she closed her eyes to prevent tears from forming again. 

Suguru. 

She still would not wrap her mind around the fact that her best friend was gone. It was simply inconceivable. 

But before she could even begin to process the whirling of emotions going through her head right now, a knock on her door interrupted her thoughts, and she frowned. 

- "Come in?" she said hesitantly, sitting up in her bed. 

And soon, a white haired tall man erupted in the room, a bag of pastries in one hand, and a large cup of coffee in the other. 

- "Hey," he said as he offered her a small smile, closing the door behind him. "I got you breakfast! So we have chocolate croissants, madeleines, cookies... Oh, a regular croissant as well! Hm..."

Eliana simply watched as the man presented each pastry to her, trying not to make everything fall on the ground. She recognized the logo on the bags, it was from her favorite bakery in Tokyo. But that place was almost an hour away... Did Gojo really go all the way out there just to bring her something he knew she liked in an attempt to cheer her up? 

- "I didn't know which one you'd want so I took them all?" 

The girl couldn't help but smile at the man's gentle attention. And even if nothing in the world right now could possibly ease the amount of pain and confusion she was feeling, she appreciated the intention. Sincerely. 

But as she was about to speak up and thank her friend, her eyes met with the pillow that laid on the floor, next to her bed, and she frowned. 

- "Did you... sleep here?" She asked, perplexed, pointing at the pillow on the ground. 

Gojo looked embarrassed, for a moment, nervously scratching the back of his head. 

- "I didn't want to leave you alone. You... had it tough, yesterday. Plus, you wouldn't let go of my hand, so I slept here. On the ground though," he reassured her immediately. "I hope this is okay." 

Eliana stared down at her blanket, her cheeks tinted in pink. 

She wouldn't let go of his hand? 

Gojo tilted his head, the bag of pastries still in his left hand. 

- "Soo... is it gonna be the madeleine or the chocolate croissant? Or perhaps you're feeling very adventurous to go for this matcha cookie I found..." 

Eliana couldn't help but chuckle softly at Gojo's attempt to lighten the mood. It was crazy. In any circumstances, his playful demeanor never failed to bring a smile to her face. Even today. 

- "You know me too well," she replied, reaching out for the bag that he was still holding. "I think I'll start with the chocolate croissant, then."

Gojo grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners with amusement. 

- "Excellent choice. That's my personal favorite too."

- "Well then let's share it," she suggested, as she patted the bed besides her for him to sit. 

Gojo gladly accepted the other half of the croissant, and he sat next to Eliana. 

- "Which makes me almost forget... I got you a coffee as well. Caramel Macchiato with two pumps of vanilla, if I'm correct."

Eliana's eyes widened. 

- "You still remember that perfectly..." 

The white haired man smiled. 

- "Of course I do." 

The girl sipped on her coffee, and for a moment, the two sat there in silence, neither of them daring to address the matter. 

Eventually, Eliana broke the silence, her throat tight with emotion as she fought to hold back the tears threatening to spill over. Again. 

- "I... I still can't believe it," she admitted, looking down. "It doesn't feel real." 

Gojo's heart ached at the pain in Eliana's voice, knowing that there were no words he could offer to ease her suffering. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, his touch warm and reassuring.

- "You were always there for him, Eliana," he said softly. "And I know that wherever he is, he's looking down on us and smiling."

- "But I wasn't enough," she replied, sadly. "We weren't enough, Satoru. We weren't able to hold him back, to make him stay... In Shinjuku that day, if only we had tried harder, if only we had followed him, then maybe..." 

- "Suguru had already made his decision, and you know as much as I do that when this guy put his head on something, there was no dissuading him. He was aware of his actions, and there was no way for him to return to Jujutsu High after what he had done.  We couldn't have done anything more than we did." 

Gojo's words were a harsh reality check, but Eliana knew he was right. Suguru had made his choice, and no amount of persuasion could have changed that. Still, the guilt gnawed at her insides, a constant reminder of her perceived failure to protect her friend.

Her blue eyed friend squeezed her shoulder gently, his gaze filled with empathy.

- "We can't change the past, Eliana. But what we can do, is honor Suguru's memory and live our lives in a way that would make him proud. And I know that's exactly what he would want for us." 

The girl simply nodded, looking down. 

- "Do you at least know if..." 

She interrupted herself, a lump in her throat. She proceeded to take a deep breath and finish her sentence, reluctantly. 

- "Do you know if he left at peace? "

The question took the white haired sorcerer aback. He couldn't possibly tell Eliana what truly happened, on that dreadful day. Not right now. It would break her, even more than she already was. 

No, he simply couldn't bring himself to do that to her right now. 

Eliana's gaze remained fixed on him, her eyes brimming with a mixture of longing and apprehension. She wanted answers, closure, something to ease the ache in her heart. 

But Gojo couldn't bear to be the one to give her that answer. 

- "I... don't know," the man finally said. "The circumstances of his passing are unknown."

Eliana looked up at him, her brows furrowed. 

- "What do you mean?" 

Gojo avoided her gaze. 

- "We received a letter, from... Suguru's supporters," he lied. "From the cult he had built, you know. That's how we learned about what happened. We don't know much more." 

Eliana just sat there, perplexed. 

- "And you haven't tried to learn more about it?" 

He just shook his head, guilt overwhelming him at that very instant. He hated to lie. Especially to her. But right now, it was the only solution. 

- "But then for all we know, maybe he's alive!" Eliana exclaimed, a tint of hope in her voice. "Maybe... maybe his cult people of whatever they're called lied for some reason, because Suguru is preparing something... because if you only received a note, then technically you never saw a body, right? So how can we be so sure?"

But that was the thing. He very much saw a body. 

For the simple reason that Satoru Gojo killed Suguru Geto. 

But at that moment, the man simply couldn't bring himself to admit it to Eliana.